CHAPTER Vn 

 SOUTHERN HARDWOODS / - 



General Conditions. — Immediately south of the white pine 

 type a vast body of hardwood timber extends southward along 

 the Appalachian Mountains to Alabama. Westward the plains 

 at the root of the Rocky Mountains are the Hmit of this hard- 

 wood timber. On the north it does not reach farther than south- 

 ern Connecticut and southern New York as a type but its out- 

 posts occupy the warmer sites within the pine type. In the 

 United States it is unique and constitutes our greatest source of 

 hardwood Imnber. The only similar bodies of timber are those 

 which occupy the ridges of the lower ranges in France — the 

 Ardennes, the Vosges, the Cote d'Or, the Cevennes, and the 

 Pyrenees — and the Carpathian Mountains in Austria, but none 

 of these possesses the extent, the variety of species, or the ra- 

 pidity of growth that our hardwood belt does. The accompany- 

 ing map shows its distribution. 



The region is characterized by mild winters, long summers, and 

 medimn to heavy precipitation. The growing season ranges 

 from six months — May to October — in the north to seven 

 months in the south — April thru October. The rainfall is 

 heaviest on the southwestern end of the Appalachians in North 

 Carolina where it totals over 65 inches per annum. The lowest 

 precipitation in the type is found on its western edge where grass 

 takes the place of trees. For example in Missouri the rainfall 

 ranges between 34 and 47 inches. As might be expected from the 

 long growing season the evaporation or flyoff is much greater than 

 in the types previously considered. The total amount of mois- 

 ture available for plant growth is still further reduced b> the 

 rapid runoff which takes place on the hillsides. In fact there is 

 probably no place in the United States, with the possible excep- 

 tion of the southwest, where the erosion is so great. Denuded 



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